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Public Transit Ridership Highest in Decades

A March 10, 2014 article in METRO magazine summarized a recent report from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) showing that 10.7 billion trips were taken on public transportation. This is the highest annual ridership number in the past 57 years.

Interestingly, the article states:

Overall, while vehicle miles traveled on roads (VMT) went up 0.3%, public transportation use in 2013 increased by 1.1%. It was the eighth year in a row that more than 10 billion trips were taken on public transportation systems nationwide.

Further, a quote from APTA President Michael Melaniphy clarifies the situation:

“There is a fundamental shift going on in the way we move about our communities. People in record numbers are demanding more public transit services and communities are benefiting with strong economic growth,”

We conclude that people are willing to use public transit as long as those fixed routes take them to places that they need to be on a daily basis, and each commuter who trades their car for a bus or train reduces congestion on the highways. If these ridership numbers drop and more people drive to work, congestion (and likely fender benders) will increase also.